Students give Kirkby charity’s new premises a makeover

Our Centre, which was established in 1981, offers a range of services for the people of Ashfield.

Working with Nottinghamshire and Ashfield councils, it provides minibus journeys for people attending group meetings and lunch clubs, a ‘ring and ride’ service for passengers who require wheelchair transportation, shopper buses and wheelchair hire.

The Pond Street centre is also open for the public to engage in social activities and coffee mornings, along with a group walking activity each Friday and the Caring Codgers group, which sees individuals aged 70-plus with mobility issues meet weekly to share information, advice and to make new friends to help combat social isolation.

Over a period of two days, students from the college’s intermediate painting and decorating course offered their time and expertise to tidy and paint the centre’s latest project – a new venue on nearby Portland Street, which is home to Our Centre’s expanded clothing charity shop ‘Glad Rags’.

The 17 students spent time sanding down woodwork, eliminating dust and dirt and repainting the walls, ceilings and woodwork of the main room, which will be the clothing shop, as well as a small toilet and garage storage area.

Angie Peppard, centre manager, who has worked at the centre for 32 years, said: “This new venue is perfect for the charity shop. It did once upon a time belong to Our Centre, but then it moved to another company.

“When we got the keys, we realised it was in real need of some love and care, so got in touch with the college. The students have done so well and worked really hard to make it a workable space for us. We are so grateful for their time and effort.

“Glad Rags opened in 2021 at our community building and we soon outgrew it. There’s a big need in this area for people to buy reasonably priced clothing and we can’t wait to launch this new shop in June.”

Student Corey Booth, aged 23, said: “It was a lovely job to work on. Once we got the ball rolling, we worked so well and got all the jobs done.

“We’ve all put top effort in and it’s looking nice.”